Name: Predawn Ambience - Ulu Muda, Malaysia by Wild Ambience
Duration: 4 min 58 s
Description: Recorded in predawn light by a swamp in Ulu Muda's rainforest. In the latter part of this sample you can hear the unusual calls of Rough-sided Frogs (Pulchrana glandulosa). Agile Gibbons can be heard singing in the background along with the occasional chattering calls of Banded Langur.

Watch Video + Read Blog → https://acousticnature.com/journal/pachaug-state-forest-nature-sounds 

Full Album: https://soundcloud.com/acousticnature/sets/the-sounds-of-pachaug-state-forest 

In celebration of the Equinox, I camped and recorded nature sounds in the Pachaug State Forest in Connecticut on September 22nd, 2021.

Although Connecticut is my home state, this was my first overnight field recording trip. That's because Connecticut is not a great state for recording quiet nature sounds. Connecticut has zero national forests, zero national parks (not counting historic sites), and zero BLM land.

Since the Pachaug State Forest is the largest forest in the state (27,000 acres), I thought it was my best chance at recording silence. Although I did capture some noise pollution free sounds, it was challenging and most of my recordings were polluted even late into the night, primarily by vehicle noise. 

Most of these recordings were made possible thanks to rain and wind overpowering the noise pollution, rendering it inaudible.

Recording Gear Used:
Olympus LS-10
Olympus LS-10s
SASS Microphone
Telinga Modular Parabolic Microphone
JrF D-Series Hydrophone

Geese Echoing Across Pond | Telinga Modular

It's the end of June. Most birds are engaged in breeding chicks or the chicks have already left the nest. There aren't many forest birds who sing anymore. I find Icterine Warbler singing in the black alder forest. At some point, Wren will join him. 
Recording contains sound that sounds like white noise. The air is no longer crystal clear like the mornings of May. Wind in the leaves, the insects and maybe my new pair of em-172 microphones are contributing to this. From time to time there is a knocking sound, these are two trunks of trees that are pushed together by the wind. The photo was taken exactly where the sound was recorded. I believe there is some kind of crepis in the picture

The Icterine Warbler and The Eurasian wren 25 June at Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve, Estonia

A long soundscape across Dawn in the Queets River Valley rainforest of the Olympic National Park. Starting in Astronomical Twilight, a small herd of Roosevelt Elk walks in from a distance, though a small forest glade, an away towards the Queets River bed.

Early Autumn rainfall and dropping Maple Leaves are the dominant sounds to begin, their pak-pak-spaks are a reminder that time passes, even in the still quiet of a moss-covered forest.

Highway 101 in less than 12 miles away, and distant traffic is funneled up the Valley, showing the difficulty of escaping human-generated sound. This has been mitigated somewhat with light processing, but close listening and inspection will make remnants evident. There are no other edits or processes committed.

I love the crisp cold air of the rainforests in the fall. Sounds, natural and human generated, carry into the distant. Tucked into my sleeping bag, I lay back in my small tent, listening to the forest awaken. Where once there was just the soft distant wash of the river, the elk are joined by the local birds. Steller's Jays shriek their song with grating-yet-amusing "CHA-CHA-CHA-CHAs". A Northern Saw-whet toots in the forest canopy. Young Varied Thrush practice their songs, not quite reaching the beautiful and haunting signature fluting of their predecessors, instead emitting a silly buzzer-bell-like noise. Pacific Wren singing at the end of their season and the occasional Kingfisher make an appearance as well. Noe of these complete with the sheer vibrance of the elk.

Roosevelt Elk or Roosevelt's Wapiti or Rainforest Elk are the largest remaining elk species in North America and thrive in shadowy silences of the Pacific Northwest's temperate rainforests. Bull's bugles and roars echo through the trees, becoming one of the signature sounds of the Olympic Mountains. The cows mew and squeal in return, listening for one another to not wander far astray.

The small herd is a tight-nit family group, a with one, maybe two, dominant bulls, five or six cows in their harem, and a handful of young. The dominant bull leads the group on a daily hike, down from the upper valley to the river and back again. Their bugles urge the group, both signaling the direction to go and scolding those that dawdle. As they pass through the glade, their heavy footfall on the vegetative floor thump-thump-thumps their presence as much as the vocalizations and the continued crushing of vegetation as they push by.

I can't get enough of their energy. They pull back frequently. No matter how many times I encounter them, Elk never cease to awe me.

Click through the comments below for some highlights!

Northwest Soundscapes

Queets River Valley Rainforest Dawn with Elk

Dawn chorus in a grassy coastal woodland in south-east Tasmania. Features the sounds of Black Currawong, Common Bronzewing, Grey Fantail, Crescent Honeyeater, Superb Fairywren, Dusky Robin, Striated Fieldwren, Yellow-throated Honeyeater, Pallid Cuckoo, Tasmanian Boobook, Brown Quail & Masked Lapwing.

Tasmania - Lune Valley Dawn

Peaceful landscape with gentle sounds of life. Recording was made at 5 in the morning, in the place visible in the picture. 

Equipment used: Zoom F3 digital recorder with EM-172 capsules. Recorded 32-bit 48kHz

Morning in the bog. Kuresoo, Soomaa, Estonia Mai 22, 2023

A broad, rocky escarpment splits the Sonoran Desert from the Colorado Plateau, dividing Arizona and western New Mexico along a northwest to southeast line.  This escarpment, known as the Mogollon Rim, contains one of the largest contiguous Ponderosa Pine stands in the world.  A warming climate has meant more frequent droughts in this part of the world, which has resulted in several massive wildfires that have collectively burned more than 1 million acres of pine and fir woodlands.  Many of these forest stands were killed; some are being replaced by aspen, and some will likely start to become shrub lands.  We are seeing a big change in this forest.
In June of last year, I camped out in a small patch of surviving pine and fir, surrounded by the skeletons of dead trees and thickets of 4-year-old aspens.  I was near a large beautiful meadow that attracted elk and coyotes in the evenings.  The recording, Vanishing Forest, is a dawn recording of hermit thrush, American robins, hairy woodpeckers, several warblers, chickadees, nuthatches and red squirrels.  Even in this area of rapidly changing habitats, wildlife finds a way to survive.

Forests Of The World

Forests Of The World: Christine Hass - Mogollon Rim - Arizona - USA

Recorded in predawn light by a swamp in Ulu Muda's rainforest. In the latter part of this sample you can hear the unusual calls of Rough-sided Frogs (Pulchrana glandulosa). Agile Gibbons can be heard singing in the background along with the occasional chattering calls of Banded Langur.

Predawn Ambience - Ulu Muda

Predawn Ambience - Ulu Muda, Malaysia

This natural soundscape was recording early morning, deep in the forests of Tangkoko Nature Reserve, Sulawesi.

Species recorded on this track include Green Imperial Pigeon, Black-naped Fruit Dove, Black-billed Koel, Ornate Lorikeet, Blue-backed Parrot, Knobbed Hornbill, Sulawesi Hornbill, Black-naped Oriole, Pied Cuckooshrike, Pale-blue Monarch and many more...

Tangkoko Morning - A Rainforest Soundscape from Sulawesi

Tangkoko Morning - A Rainforest Soundscape from Sulawesi, Indonesia

The natural sounds of cicadas and birds in Tangkoko Nature Reserve, Sulawesi. Read more https://wildambience.com/location-trip-updates/indonesia/tangkoko-cicadas/

Tangkoko Cicadas

Tangkoko Cicadas - Recorded in Sulawesi, Indonesia.

This is an excerpt from the album ' A Morning in Kutini-Payamu' available at https://wildambience.com/albums/a-morning-in-kutini-payamu/

Kutini-Payamu (Iron Range) National Park is a vast area of lowland rainforest in near the tip of Cape York in the far north of Australia.  The biodiversity here is  more akin with the lowland forests of New Guinea, and for a significant number of species this area is the southern limit of their distribution. In this sample you can hear the loud whistles of a Magnificent Riflebird and the squawks of Eclectus Parrots, along with many other species in the background.

Kutini-Payamu (Iron Range) National Park, Australia - A Biodiversity Hotspot

This is an excerpt from the track 'Dawn Symphony', now available as a one hour dawn chorus recording from New Guinea available here - https://wildambience.com/albums/new-guinea-lowland-dawn-chorus

A vivid dawn chorus from the steamy forests of lowland West Papua. While the rainforest is still dark, Hooded Butcherbirds sing melodic fluty phrases to welcome the new day.

New Guinea - Dawn Chorus

Dawn Symphony (excerpt from the album "New Guinea: Lowland Rainforest Dawn")

The sounds of biodiversity. Natural soundscapes and wildlife sounds from around the world.

Predawn Ambience - Ulu Muda, Malaysia

Wild Ambience

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